Environmental Sustainability Guidance Published For Events Industry

Zero Waste Scotland has published a new guide to help event organisers to plan and deliver environmentally sustainable events, as part of national Legacy Week (9-15 of March).

The guide, which builds on learnings from high profile events hosted by Scotland during 2014, including Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, the Ryder Cup 2014, Homecoming Scotland and Festival 2014, was launched at the Scottish Tourism Alliance’s event at the Scottish Parliament last night where the Legacy 2014 programme highlighted the tourism benefits of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

It has been developed to showcase best practice and act as a quick reference guide for key topics including energy, water, waste management, venue, catering and transportation.

Zero Waste Scotland’s Resource Efficient Scotland programme worked with event organising committees including Glasgow 2014 and Ryder Cup Green Drive to ensure events made efficient use of energy, water and raw materials, and recycled where possible. The programme is now working with EventScotland, VisitScotland and the Scottish Tourism Alliance to share guidance and support with the wider events sector in Scotland.

Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead – “Last year saw Scotland set a new benchmark for sustainable events and Legacy Week is a great opportunity to celebrate this success and thank all of those who made it possible. I’m delighted to welcome the publication of this new guide and look forward to seeing how it can help us to build on this valuable experience and make events in Scotland as green as possible”

Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead said: “Last year saw Scotland set a new benchmark for sustainable events and Legacy Week is a great opportunity to celebrate this success and thank all of those who made it possible. I’m delighted to welcome the publication of this new guide and look forward to seeing how it can help us to build on this valuable experience and make events in Scotland as green as possible.”

Iain Gulland, Chief Executive, Zero Waste Scotland said: “2014 really was a once in a lifetime year for Scotland as we saw sustainability raise its profile in the planning and delivery of several high profile events. The legacy of these events has the potential to really benefit Scotland, and this guide has been developed to ensure that resource efficiency stays on the agenda.

“Through our Resource Efficient Scotland programme and working closely with strategic partners we are supporting and enabling the events industry to be environmentally responsible.

“By taking steps to improve sustainability, for example putting in place plans to divert waste from landfill or re-using materials where possible post-event, organising committees can boost their reputation and gain a competitive advantage, while helping to create a truly sustainable Scottish events industry that competes on the world stage.”

Marc Crothall, chief executive, Scottish Tourism Alliance said: “We have shown the world we can deliver first class events, if we are to continue to attract and deliver high profile quality events we need to practice what we preach and take sustainability seriously. This guide is a great tool for the industry to reference and we actively encourage all tourism business to do just that.”

Paul Bush OBE, chief operating officer, Event Scotland said: “Sustainability continues to be an increasingly important area of event planning and this new guide will become an invaluable reference point for organisers throughout the country. Scotland is the perfect stage for events and we look forward to continuing our work with Zero Waste Scotland in this area, and to seeing the impacts coming through over the coming years.”

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